For height, Cleome (Helen Campbell) are beautiful. In my area, NYC, seedlings planted in mid May bloom right around July 4th. They do wonderfully in containers. My suggestions for something low that will spill over are Bacopa, Lantana, Verbena, small trailing petunias. The trick is to limit your selection to just a few and pack them in so they appear large and lush. Keep your eye out for bountiful hanging pot specimens at your local nursery that got a head start in the greenhouse and transplant those into your containers. HTH Here is a link that might be useful:

This is a positively evil thread, LOL. Reading through all these posts prompted to me to purchase 'Pink Scentiment' and 'John Smith' earlier this spring, and I now have them both growing on my windowsill indoors. I have grown Begonia solananthera and 'Tea Rose' in the past. While they had very pleasant fragrances, they just never "wowed" me in the scent department, being far too soft and subtle. I thought the tuberhybrida begonia scents would be similarly soft and subtle. But I think I may have been wrong... Right now, I have buds on the 'John Smith'. One bud which is coloring up with an electric coral color but not really near to opening (I give it another week) is already exuding a fragrance! It is a *strong* delicious smell just like ripe sweet peaches or nectarines, maybe with a little rose thrown in. I am amazed, and my nose is very happy. This was an expensive bulb (from White Flower Farm) but it sprouted rapidly and it has been a vigorous grower from the start. The stem is extremely thick and beefy and the leaves are huge. The 'Pink Scentiment' is not nearly so vigorous compared to 'John Smith', but it also sprouted rapidly and has been growing steadily ever since. The stem is not as thick and it seems to be a very heavy brancher, as can be expected with a pendula type. Leaves are about half the size of 'John Smith' and there are no buds in sight yet. I can't wait to sample its scent later this summer once it is large enough to bloom. If I am successful with these two begonias, I will definitely want to seek out other fragrant tuberhybridas in the future.

I ordered about 12 bulbs from them directly in 2010. They arrived in little paper bags in march and seemed really small compared to domestic tuners about the size of a walnut. They were all clean and had pink growth. I didn't think they would grow to be exhibition size that year but they did. They filled out 2 gallons pots well, most only had one or 2 main stems but flowers were still gigantic for small plants. When I dug them up that fall, all the tuners were the size of my fist. The plants were even better the following year. I started them all in Feb and they were blooming by end of May with a glorious show until September when I had to abandon them. I love their begonias but don't have the money to buy named tuners anymore so I've started from seed. The blooms were as advertised.

We went to the open house and had a very nice time touring the grounds, even though it was swelteringly hot that day! The thing that impressed me most was the greenhouse full of tuberous begonias with HUGE flowers in the most brilliant colors. I lived in Washington State briefly long ago, and first saw them there where they flourish in the cool, moist air and are grown as bedding plants. as for White Flower Farm, I'm glad i went, but it WAS quite a hike from Orange County, and i'm not sure i'd do it again. They had big boxes of lots of bare root perennials for $1 each, mostly lilies. Shrubs were 30% off i believe, and perrenials, too. After enjoying their catalog for nearly 20 years, it was fun to see the place. Since i already have things sitting in pots waiting to be planted, i was good and didn't buy anything ;o) amazing!